pianomania: PIANO RECITAL BY KENNETH HAMILTON @ RAFFLES HOTEL LE ROYAL, PHNOM PENH

Here we are in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to attend a piano recital! Western classical music isn't a big thing in these parts, but there is an interesting series of concerts and recitals taking place on a monthly basis at the Raffles Hotel le Royal. Organised by long-time Phnom Penh resident, the German flautist and impresario Anton Isselhardt, this series attracts a loyal following, often selling out its 120-seat hotel function room.

The concert series till the end of 2026.
Singaporean baritone Martin Ng
appears on 7 November!

Anton Isselhardt was keen to mention
that both Chopin and Liszt were immigrants!

Our first concert (hopefully not the last) in Phnom Penh was a piano recital by Scottish pianist, scholar and author Kenneth Hamilton, who has recently made a new home with his wife Monika Hennemann in the Cambodian capital. His programme is of well-known Romantic masterpieces by Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt, lasting about one hour.

The recital opened with Chopin's Prelude in C sharp minor (Op.45), a standalone work which had the quality of a nocturne. Its lyricism carried well all through to its tricky cadenza before a peaceable close. What came next was the Second Sonata in B flat minor (Op.35), also known as the Funeral March, once described by Robert Schumann as Chopin's four wildest children under the same roof.

Here the K.Kawai baby grand piano could barely stand the barnstorming requisite in three of the movements. The resultant sonority was clattery and congested, rendering Hamilton's noteworthy efforts void of the desired effects. Only the cantabile central sections of the Scherzo and Funeral March came out with some credit. Perhaps such an instrument might work in polite salon pieces but not for Romantic bluster.

Following the intermission were three transcriptions by Franz Liszt. The exquisite Gounod's Hymn to St Cecilia is not often heard, and this is believed to be the Cambodian premiere. It's beautiful melody was built up to a glorious climax.

Similarly lyrical was Schubert's Serenade, Leise flehen meine Lieder (Gently My Songs Entreat) from Schwanengesang, one of the Austrian composer's best-known tunes. This version was unusual as it included a florid cadenza at its end, one unpublished but notated by Liszt's students. This segment closed with the popular Schumann Widmung (Dedication), a love poem for his beloved Clara at their wedding.

To round up the evening with true bravura was Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No.1, recounting the Devil fiddling his way in the village inn to the intoxication of its guests. One was perhaps waiting for one of the piano strings to snap, but that did not happen. One was left with the song of a nightingale before the Devil got in his last laugh.

The applause was warm and appreciative, eliciting a lovely encore in Liszt's transcription of Clara Schumann's Geheimes Flustern hier und dort (Secret Whispers Here and There). Here, the beleaguered piano was heard at its best, where lyrical intimacy was at its premium.

Before an expected and well-deserved second encore was forthcoming, the lights came on. A pity but there was no denying that the full house enjoyed itself, and the young ladies of Harpswell Foundation finally discovering the absorbing and enduring power of Lisztomania through the keen hands and mind of Kenneth Hamilton.